Baseball News Links

We've collected some news stories covering South Carolina's win in yesterday's Super Regional. If you want to do some advance scouting of the Gamecocks' next opponent, watch the Oklahoma - Virginia game at 7 p.m. tonight on ESPN2. South Carolina will play the winner of that game in their College World Series opener this weekend.

The freshman first baseman admitted a home run was in the back of his
mind as he got ready to hit late Sunday afternoon. The same went for
everyone in the park wearing garnet, including USC coach Ray Tanner as
he gave Walker a piece of advice.

On the field, minutes after the celebration had died down, Walker
found his cellphone and called his parents, Scott Walker and Julie
Signorovitch, back home in Pennsylvania. His call was greeted by screams
of jubilation.

His father told Walker he could not bear to watch
on TV as his son's shining moment approached. Dad bowed his head in
prayer. Within minutes, that prayer was answered for Walker and for USC
fans everywhere.

It's been six years since South Carolina played in the College World
Series. To some, its coach asserted, it's felt like a quarter-century.

No matter your point of perception, the wait is over. The Gamecocks
are again part of the final eight in Omaha.

USC played from behind all day against Coastal Carolina until
Christian Walker's three-run home run with two out in the bottom of the
eighth inning delivered a dramatic 10-9 super regional-clinching
victory at sold-out, rowdy BB&T Coastal Field.

It was a flashback to USC's glory days last
decade, when the Gamecocks made regular trips to Omaha on the strength
of multi-run homers. These Gamecocks were built much differently, but
they produced a bomb when they needed it most.

"Coach [Ray]
Tanner told me when I was in the on-deck circle that I needed to get on
base so that Walker could hit his three-run home run," Morales said.